Apparatus for imparting helical crimp to yarn



Jan. 9, 1968 E. G. PAQUETTE ET AL 3,362,150

APPARATUS FOR IMPARTING HELICAL CRIMP TO YARN s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 22, 1967 INVENTORS ELM ER G. PAQU ETTE DALE LINBECK BY I ATTORNEY Jan. 9,, 1968 E. G. PAQUETTE ET AL 3,352,150

APPARATUS FOR IMPARTING HELICAL CRIMP TO YARN Filed March 22, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

FIG. 4

INVENTORS ELMER G. PAQUETTE DALE G. HOLINBECK ATTORNEY Jan. 9, 19%8 E. (:5. FAQUETTE ET 3,362,159 APPARATUS FOR IMPARTING HELICAL CRIMP TO YARN Filed March 22, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 41 J 4 m A S a 7 W Em T L M Q :7 A E H 3 v m G6 QUE fin ATTORN United States Patent 3,362,150 APPARATUS FOR HMPARTING HELICAL CRIMP T0 YARN Elmer G. Paqnette and Dale G. Holinbeck, Madison, Wis., assignors to Joseph Bancroft & Sons (10., Wilmington, Dei., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 625,041 12 Claims. (Cl. 57-34) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An endless flexible mandril, planetary driving rolls engaging the mandril to cause it to rotate and to advance, feed rolls fee-ding a yarn onto the advancing mandril to be wrapped around the mandril in the form of a helix as the mandril advances through a heating chamber and through a cooling chamber in which the crimp is set and a take up spool receiving the yarn as it is unwound from the rotating mandril after setting.

This invention relates to apparatus for forming a helical crimp in yarns and has for an object to provide an apparatus for the above purpose having novel and improved details of construction and features of operation.

In one embodiment the apparatus comprises a continuous, flexible mandril which may be composed of natural or synthetic rubber, plastic or a metal wire. The mandril is advanced through a heating station and a cooling station and is rotated as it advances by means of a set of planetary rollers which are disposed at a relative angle to the axis of the mandril suited to produce the desired ratio between the rate rotation and the forward feed of the mandril. The mandril is advanced through the heating and cooling zones and returns in a continuous loop around sets of guide rolls. The yarn is fed onto the rotating mandril to be wrapped into a helical form and is passed through a heating and cooling zone for setting and is unwound onto a take up spool after setting.

The nature of the invention will be better understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which a specific embodiment has been set forth for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the mandril drive, with parts removed for clarity;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 illustrating one of the mandril driving elements;

FIG. 4 is a detailed plan view showing the mounting for the drive rolls;

FIG. 5 is a plan view on a larger scale of one of the mandril support units; and

FIG. 6 is a transverse section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings more in detail the mandril 10 is shown in the form of a loop which extends around sets of guide rolls 11 to form advance and return flights. In its advance flight the mandril 10 passes through a heating member 12 which may be heated in any convenient manner as by electric wires 13 and through a tube 14 into which cooling air may be passed from an inlet nipple 15. A shield 16 may be provided to reduce heat transfer between the heating and cooling zones. A pair of transducers 18 are disposed to impart rotational and advancing motion to the mandril 10.

Each set 11 of guide rolls comprises a series of upper rolls 20' and a series of lower rolls 21 supported by a disc 22 which is carried by a pedestal 23 attached to a support plate 24. The disc 22 is mounted on the pedestal 23 by screw 22. A pin 25 secures the disc 22 and pedestal 23 against relative rotation. Pedestal 23 is mounted on plate 24 which is adjustably secured to the frame.

The disc 22 is formed with upper and lower central flanges 27 and 28, the latter of which surrounds the pedestal 23. At its periphery disc 22 carries upper and lower peripheral flanges 29 and 30 which fit in shoulders 31 and 32 of the disc and are held for rotational adjustment by pins 33 carried by the respective flanges and extending into grooves 3-5 and 36 formed in the peripheral edges of the disc 22. The flanges are locked in adjusted position by set screws 37 and 38 respectively.

Sets of upper shafts 40 and sets of lower shafts 41 extend through the peripheral flanges 29 and 30 with their inner ends disposed in recesses 42 and 43 in the center flanges 27 and 28, respectively, and are secured by pins 44 and 45. The shafts 40 and 41 have a soft cover of rubber or the like which is adapted to confine the shafts in the inner and outer flanges while permitting a limited movement of the peripheral flanges for purposes of adjustment, so that the shafts may be set to extend radially of the flanges or at a slight angle to the radii.

Each of the upper shafts 40 carries at its outer end a rectangular yoke 49 which is rigidly fixed thereto and in which is journalled a shaft 49' carrying a guide roll 20, which is disposed to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis which is transverse to the shafts 40. Each lower shaft 41 carries a similar transverse yoke 50 in which is journalled a shaft 51 carrying a guide roll 21.

The upper and lower guide rolls 20 and 21 are arranged in pairs and may be relatively offset to form a bite 52 in which the mandril 10 rides. The upper and lower shafts 40 and 41 are relatively displaced from their radial planes so the points of contact of the guide rolls with the mandril describe a helical path around the mandril having a pitch to conform to the rate of linear advance of the mandril as it rotates. In this way a substantially frictionless support is provided for each return loop of the mandril.

The mandril 10 is driven by a pair of transducers 18 which are disposed at the discharge ends of the sets of guide rolls 20 and 21. I

Each transducer head comprises an outer cylinder 61 adjustably mounted on support bars 62 by screws 63. The cylinder 61 is concentric with the mandril and carries at its discharge end a removable sleeve 64. Inner and outer rotatable sleeves 66 and 67 are journalled in bearings 68 and 69 which are mounted within the cylinder 61 and carried thereby. A radial flange 70 is disposed at the forward end of the outer sleeve 67. The forward end of the inner sleeve 66 projects beyond the flange 70 and carries a second radial flange 71. A pair of shafts 72 are journalled in the two flanges 70 and 71, each shaft carrying a drive roll 74. The shafts 72 have a covering 72 of rubber or other soft material by which they are secured in the flanges 70 and 71 with suflicient flexibility to permit a slight relative rotational adjustment of the flanges so as to cause the rolls 74 to rotate in planes which are angularly disposed with respect to a plane normal to the axis of the mandril. The drive rolls 74 are of a size to contact the inner surface of the removable stationary sleeve 64 as they advance with a planetary motion around the axis of the cylinder with the rotatable sleeves 70' and 71 and also to have a driving contact with the mandril 10 which passes therebetween. The angular displacement of the drive rolls 74 is such that they cause the mandril to rotate about its axis, and to feed forwardly. The drive rolls 74 contact the mandril in a helical path the pitch of which determines the ratio of the forward feed to the rate of rotation of the mandril.

At its rearward end the outer sleeve 67 is split and carries a drive pulley 77 which is driven by a belt 78 extending through a support plate and driven by a suitable motor, not shown. The pulley 77 is clamped to the outer sleeve 67 by a set screw 79 which also causes the outer sleeve 67 to grip the inner sleeve 66 for securing the two sleeves in adjusted positions. The inner sleeve 66 may be adjusted relative to the outer sleeve 67 by loosening the set screw 79.

A rotatable guide tube 80 is disposed around the mandril at the rearward end of the inner sleeve 66 and is journalled in bearing 81 carried by the sleeve 66. A second guide tube 85 is disposed around the mandril and forwardly of the feed rolls 74 and is journalled in a bearing 86. The discharge end of the removable sleeve 64 is closed by a disc 88 having a central hole 89 in which the bearing 86 is mounted.

A yarn 90 to be crimped is guided to the mandril by a pair of guide rolls 91 and is wrapped around the mandril in a helix 92 as the mandril advances and rotates. The helix 92 then advances with the mandril through the heater element 12 and through the cooling zone 14 so that the yarn is set in helical form. After passing the cooling zone 14 the heat set yarn 90 is unwrapped from the mandril onto a spool 94 which is mounted on a shaft 95 driven through a clutch 96 from a continuously rotating shaft 97. The clutch 96 is actuated by a solenoid 98 so as to apply a predetermined maximum torque to the shaft 95, so that the yarn is wound onto the spool 94 under a substantially constant tension. The yarn 90 is guided to the spool through a tube 99 which is traversed by a traversing mechanism 100 which is driven from the shaft 97 by a belt. 101. Any suitable type of constant tension winder and traversing mechanism may be used.

Although the yarn is wound onto the spool 94 in substantially straight form the filaments are held under an internal stress due to the previous heat set while in helical form and the helical crimp will be restored by unwinding the yarn from the spool 94 and heating the same while in tensionless state to a relaxing temperature which is less than the setting temperature to which the yarn was previously subjected.

It is to be understood that the ratio between the rate of rotation of the mandril and the rate of linear feed can be adjusted by varying the angular displacement of the feed rolls 74 and that the angular position of the guide rolls and 21 should be similarly adjusted so that all of the rolls describe a helical path of the same pitch on the surface of the mandril.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for imparting a helical crimp to yarn and the like, comprising a continuous mandril of flexible material which is capable of being twisted while in loop form, guide means carrying said mandril in the form of a loop having advance and return flights, treating means associated with the advance flight of said loop means, drive means causing both rotational and advance movement of said mandril, means feeding a yarn to said mandril in advance of said treating means, means wrapping said yarn helically around said mandril due to the rotation and the advance of said mandril and means for unwrapping said yarn from said mandril after passage through said treating means, said drive means comprising a transducer head including a stationary cylinder, a rotatable sleeve journalled in said cylinder and a roll carried by said sleeve and adapted to advance therewith around said mandril in a planetary motion, said roll being positioned to engage and be driven by the inner surface of said cylinder as said sleeve rotates therein and to engage and drive said mandril as it rotates, said roll being mounted to rotate about an axis which is angularly disposed with respect to the axis of said mandril so as to contact said mandril in a helical path, the pitch of which determines the ratio between the rate of rotation and the rate of forward feed of said mandril.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said transducer head includes a pair of rotatable sleeves having axially spaced radial fianges, said drive roll is mounted on a shaft carried by said flanges, and means is provided for adjusting the relative positions of said sleeves for thereby varying the angularity of said drive roll.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 in which a drive pulley is carried by one of said rotatable sleeves.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which rotatable guide tubes are disposed in said cylinder for guiding said mandril to and from said drive roll.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said guide means comprises spaced pairs of upper and lower rolls disposed along the path of said mandril, the rolls of each pair forming a bite in which said mandril rests, said guide rolls rotating in planes adapted to describe a helical path of contact with said mandril having a pitch corresponding to the relative rates of rotation and advance of said mandril.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which said guide rolls are mounted in yokes, spaced shafts carry the respective yokes and means is provided to adjust the angularity of said shafts for thereby varying the angularity of said guide rolls with respect to the axis of said mandril.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 in which said mandril is formed with a pair of return loops and said guide rolls are disposed along the respective loops.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 in which said spaced shafts are carried in inner and outer concentric flanges and extend substantially radially thereof, and means is provided to adjust the relative positions of said concentric flanges for thereby varying the angularity of said shafts with respect to the radii of said flanges.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the means for unwrapping said yarn comprises a take-up spool and means driving said spool for winding the yarn thereon under substantially constant tension.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 in which said last drive means comprises a driven shaft carrying said spool and a limited torque clutch connected to drive said shaft.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said treating means includes heating and cooling means disposed in heat-transfer relationship with said yarn and spaced along said advance flight of said mandril.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including means for adjusting the angularity of said shaft for thereby varying the feed rate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,878,514 3/1959 Nichols et al. 2,881,504 4/1959 Billion. 2,980,959 4/ 1961 Genovese. 2,987,869 6/1961 Klein 57-34 3,050,819 8/1962 Allman et al. 57-34 XR 3,091,908 6/1963 Carruthers 57-157 XR 3,147,578 9/1964 Calizzano 5734 3,178,795 4/1965 Warthen 5734 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 952,509 3/1964 Great Britain.

FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

D. E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner. 

